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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27904603">getting back to (someplace better than) where we used to be</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrennette/pseuds/wrennette'>wrennette</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>L.A. Confidential (1997)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blanket Permission, F/M, Injury Recovery, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M, do not copy to another site, post movie canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:08:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,237</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27904603</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrennette/pseuds/wrennette</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed Exley goes to Arizona to get his partner, and brings back his partner's partner too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ed Exley/Bud White, Lynn Bracken/Bud White, Lynn Bracken/Ed Exley/Bud White</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>getting back to (someplace better than) where we used to be</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bud wasn’t up to solid foods yet when Ed arrived, ushering himself in as dusk fell one night, before Lynn was home from the waitressing job she swore was just for now, just until she could scrape together enough money and energy for the dress shop she had talked about. Bud was on the sofa with a book, his regiment of pills and a glass of water long gone warm his only company. He looked up sharply when the front door rather than the back opened, and his head swam with the persistent symptoms of concussion. </p>
<p>If it was trouble, Bud knew he was in no shape to protect himself. He was almost fully dependent on Lynn at the moment, and he hated himself for it. But Lynn had been good to him, had wanted him even when he was broken down and good for nothing. So he did his best, tried to contribute around the house by neatening up and making supper at night even though he wasn't much of a cook. It was hard to look at her sometimes, because he knew he'd hurt her and she'd given so much already. So when the door opened, and there stood a familiar silhouette, lean and sharp, Bud let out a rush of air through his nose, nostrils flaring in adrenaline response and relief. Ex always knew what to do.</p>
<p>Silently Ed crossed the room. It only took a few steps, and then, in reversal of nearly every time before, it was Ed who offered his hand. Bud grabbed hold, and he was hauled to his feet, then curled into an awkward but heartfelt hug. There were no words for a long moment, just Ed’s cheekbone sharp against Bud’s shorn scalp, both of them breathing hard, nearly shaking with the relief of just being alive and in the same room. Bud twisted slightly, hissed in repressed agony, then managed to fit his nose in the crook of Ed’s neck and take a deep, shaky breath full of soap, aftershave, pomade and the salt and musk of Ed himself.</p>
<p>They remained bracing each other, their entanglement growing closer and more comfortable, until Lynn bustled in through the back door and stopped short with a gasp that made Bud twitch away from Ed as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It was Ed’s turn to hiss, but he let his hands fall from where they had settled on Bud’s hips, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles of pressure through Bud’s shirt.</p>
<p>“Lieutenant,” Lynn said almost reprovingly, and Ed nodded coolly to her. He had lied to himself, those days before he and Bud finally slugged it out, then worked it out. Fucking her wasn’t the same as fucking Bud, nor the same as being fucked by Bud, and it was Bud he wanted, always had been. If all he could get was Bud at his side, their shoulders hitched as they circled back to back, that would be fine. But now, with Bud trembling in his arms, he was pretty sure Bud would be willing to be so much more than his work partner. Ed drew in a long shaky breath, knowing that the embrace was a start, but his next move would change everything.</p>
<p>Bud moaned low in his throat as Ed’s lips brushed, then settled against his. His mouth was mostly useless, still healing from the slug that had rattled through his jaw. But he could part his lips enough for Ed’s slick tongue to flicker into his mouth, and Bud groaned again, swaying into his partner and knowing he had found something else to fight and die for. </p>
<p>“Come to claim what’s mine Miz Bracken,” Ed said in that firm, slightly prim way of his, one hand sliding up to curl around the nape of Bud’s neck, the other rubbing his back, gentling him. Bud rested his head on Ed’s shoulder, blowing hard through his nose as the world swam around him.</p>
<p>“Bud barely knows which way is up right now,” Lynn argued back, just as firm, and glacially cool.</p>
<p>“He knows me. He knows he and I are meant to be partners,” Ed answered, and Bud shifted. He leaned his shoulders against Ed’s chest, and met Lynn’s sharp eyes. Holding her gaze, he carefully lifted Ed’s hand that had fallen away, placed it between his legs. He reached out with his other hand, reached for her, and Lynn blushed slightly but didn’t back down. Bud lolled his head back, giving Ed his neck, then urging his partner’s hand deeper. Ed complied, fondling Bud through his slacks and then beginning to knead the rapidly filling cock.</p>
<p>Bud whimpered softly. He hadn’t hardened since the Victory Motel, and that had been an adrenaline response, or so he told himself at the time. But Ed’s hand felt like the best thing to ever touch him, and Bud knew that if Ed wanted he could have Bud screaming and coming in his shorts like a teenager in seconds. </p>
<p>“Easy Bud, I’ll take care of you,” Ed rasped in his partner’s ear, mouthing and kissing at ear and jaw and neck. Bud whimpered, trying to control himself. “Easy baby,” Ed all but crooned, and Bud bit back another whimper. </p>
<p>Lynn's hand wrapped around Bud's waiting fingers, and he gently tugged her close so she could press against his front. "And are you willing to share, Lieutenant?" Lynn asked carefully, her hand covering Ed's on Bud's thick cock. Bud moaned, and Ed's smile grew wolfish. </p>
<p>"Bud's man enough to keep us both happy, I think," Ed said thickly, and kissed Bud's neck again. Lynn smiled in turn, and gently brushed her lips to Bud's, smearing her lipstick on his mouth. </p>
<p>"That what you want Bud?" Lynn asked, fingers dipping down to play with his balls. "You want me and the Lieutenant to take care of you?" Bud whined, one hand clenching on Ed's hip even as the other tightened around Lynn's narrow waist. "Alright then," she said, and that was that. </p>
<p>Carefully, Ed withdrew enough to look into Bud’s face. Bud was obviously still a bit stoned, but his eyes were alert enough, and they were warm and soft as they rested on Ed. This time, it was Bud who leaned in to instigate the kiss.</p>
<p>“Need you so bad Bud,” Ed admitted softly, rocking his fully engorged cock against Bud’s hips. Bud nodded, then glanced into the rest of the flat. Ed nodded, understanding. “Yeah baby, you’re both comin’ home with me. I’ll take care of you,” Ed promised, then leaned in for a sweet, wet kiss, his tongue cutting open on the wires that closed Bud’s jaw. Carefully he sat Bud down, and then he and Lynn went through the apartment, hurriedly packing her and Bud’s things. Bud's belongings still only filled a small duffel, a garment bag and a dopp kit, and then Ed was helping Bud to the car while Lynn finished up with her larger wardrobe and made a few phone calls.</p>
<p>“Hotel tonight baby, then we’ll be home,” Ed murmured as he settled Bud, and as soon as Lynn was seated in the front, her luggage in the trunk, Ed set the car in motion. He drove until the headlights of oncoming traffic blurred, and then found a little motel and got them a room. He and Lynn helped Bud in and then laid him out on the single bed, stripping him carefully, not wanting an inadvertent injury to slow them.</p>
<p>Bud growled low in his throat when Ed nuzzled against his half hard cock, and then Ed took it into his mouth, earning a sharper, needier sound from Bud. Lynn settled at Bud's side, leaning down to kiss his mouth sweetly, her fingers gently stroking over his chest. Not wanting to draw this out or strain his injured partner in any way, Ed sucked deep and hard and fast, hollowing his cheeks as he blew Bud. It felt so good, feeling the vital pulse of Bud’s cock as it thickened in his mouth, and before long the pulse of his seed as Bud came. </p>
<p>Suckling Bud clean, Ed nosed lower, whimpering with need as he hunted for what he truly desired. Bud’s big, rough hands, so used to violence, stroked lightly over Ed’s hair, Bud's need echoing Ed's. The orgasm had left Bud dazed, but he wanted to feel his partner’s pleasure, needed that as much as his own release.</p>
<p>“Want to fuck you,” Ed panted finally, nosing against Bud’s thigh. There was a moment of hesitance, and then the heavily muscled thighs parted. </p>
<p>“Never been taken, have you baby?” Lynn asked gently as Ed mouthed at Bud’s pucker, and Bud whined and shook his head. </p>
<p>“Gonna make it so sweet for you,” Ed promised breathlessly. “Gonna take my time, make you come on my dick, make it so you never want anything but me fucking you, wide open and begging,” Ed promised, and Bud whimpered again. With that, Ed leaned in, purposefully sucking and licking now, tongue fucking Bud’s hole until it was loose and wet. </p>
<p>"He'll be so good to you baby," Lynn promised, and Bud whined, something that could have been Ed’s name if Bud’s jaw weren’t wired shut. With a groan of anticipation, Ed crawled up Bud’s powerful body, rubbing against him gently. Ed soothed his partner, humping against him slowly to get Bud used to the physicality of being covered. Soon the tip of Ed’s dick began to catch and press at the slightly relaxed pucker, and Bud pressed up slightly, wanting it all.</p>
<p>After a few more teasing thrusts that didn’t result in penetration, Ed steadied himself slightly and forced the first few inches of his cock into Bud’s hole. Bud groaned deeply but bore down, and soon Ed was balls deep, telling his partner how hot and sweet he was. Ed took his time, made Bud writhe and whimper with need, and after a while made Bud come hard without ever having his dick touched. </p>
<p>Lynn was with them the whole time, touching Bud and coaxing him along, telling him how good he was like this. She kissed him again and again, tugging at his nipples with her fingertips, stroking his chest and arms and shoulders just the way she'd learned he liked. The three of them fell asleep tangled up together, and in the morning, dressed in the thin dawn light and headed west once more.</p>
<p>Over the next few months, Bud regained his strength, his ability to walk and run and use his fists to break men into component parts. He was leaner than before at first, the long months of liquid diet melting much of the bulk from his frame. It made him no less intimidating, his build naturally blessed with barrel chest and broad shoulders, and soon the heavy muscle returned as well. </p>
<p>Lynn dyed her hair dark, closer to her natural shade, and found a secretary job. She brought home all her gossip to share, knowing that Bud felt a bit trapped in the home the three of them shared. Officially, she was Ed's girlfriend, and joined him at the events he was sometimes forced to attend as the department's poster-boy. She always looked lovely, and sometimes people looked at her twice, as if they almost recognized her, but no one connected her to the hooker who looked like Veronica Lake.</p>
<p>Even as Bud grew stronger and stronger, his impatience to get back to work nipping at his heels, he never resisted Ed’s covetous hands on him, never tried to take control of their couplings. He slept in Ed’s bed, cooked the three of them dinner and cleaned the little bungalow, and when Ed came in late, Bud would feed him and then lead the way into the bedroom, silently offering his body to his partner, needing that intimate closeness if he couldn’t be sharing Ed’s mind on the job. Lynn sometimes joined them, but many nights she slept on the sofa, even if she'd joined them for sex earlier. </p>
<p>Ed never refused Bud's advances. He took Bud gently most of the time, made his partner keen and whimper with need. Other nights, dinner was put on hold. Ed would stalk in and simply drop his case, and attuned as he was to Ed, Bud would appear, and he would struggle just the way Ed needed but never in a way that meant no, and Ed would fuck him hard and vicious, panting with exertion and sobbing against Bud’s broad shoulders when he had come. </p>
<p>When Ed was done those nights, Lynn always stayed with them in the bed. She cleaned them up a bit, and showered them with kisses, told them how sweet they were, and let them fall asleep in her arms. Bud wasn't the only one eager for him to rejoin Ed on the force. Lynn thought once they could work together again, things might balance out a bit more.</p>
<p>The night Bud got his jaw unwired, he ate dinner with Ed and Lynn, chewing happily at his overcooked noodles, then dragged Ed’s chair back from the table just enough and went to his knees. He sucked Ed’s cock sloppy and unskilled, but so very wanting, and when Ed was half crazy with the need to come in that glorious wet heat, Bud pulled off and growled up at Ed that he wanted to be fucked until he couldn’t bear to walk or sit or do anything but lay on his belly the next day. Ed obliged. Lynn took care of the dishes.</p>
<p>Bud came without being touched, keening and begging, hips humping hard against the bed to drive himself on Ed’s cock. Ed managed not to follow Bud over, he managed to keep fucking to make it even deeper, harder. He used his hands to spread Bud as wide as possible, watched his cock disappear into Bud’s fucked out hole and wondered how the hell he had gotten so lucky. Ed came hissing into Bud’s ear about how good he was.</p>
<p>“Only you Ex,” Bud murmured when they had calmed down and were pressed tight together, both needing skin on skin after the intensity of their coupling. “You know how I am.” Ed did, he knew. He knew that Bud was possessive, but mostly because he was so loyal it was almost painful to see. He had kept himself almost willfully blind of the shit Stens was into, because the man was his partner, and he'd believed in that bond even when it almost got him killed.</p>
<p>“I know baby,” Ed agreed, and shifted. Although they were of a height, even when Bud had dropped a large amount of muscle he had been the bulkier. Ed had from the start of this slept splayed over Bud’s over-warm frame, their legs tangled together. “I’m gonna take care of you. Soon as you pass the physical, you’ll be on the street again, you’ll be one of mine, and you’ll stay here with me.” Bud nodded sleepily, heavy arms tightening around Ed’s narrow waist.</p>
<p>“Never needed anyone like this,” Bud said softly. “Broke any man that even looked at me wrong before. But I need you so bad Ex. Need you so deep inside I don’t know any way to make it better but to get your cock up in me.” Ed’s cock twitched, and he groaned softly, propping himself up slightly to take Bud’s mouth. It was lush and hot, and now he could press past Bud’s teeth, taste every bit of him.</p>
<p>Slowly Ed hardened again, and they both knew Bud neither needed nor wanted more prep. Ed rolled them, then pulled Bud down on his lap, and Bud arched back and moaned so pretty it should have been illegal as he took Ed’s cock deep. Bud fucked himself on Ed’s cock, slowly at first, but then more and more viciously. He started off sitting nearly vertical, pinching and playing at his nipples but never touching his dick as he pleasured them both.</p>
<p>“Come ‘re baby, come ‘re, let me take care of you baby,” Ed groaned, and then Bud was splayed open over him, humping him needfully and whimpering softly. As if only then remembering he could speak now, Bud began to beg, wanton filth that made no sense other than he was so hot and ready he was about to burst, but needed Ed to take care of him, needed Ed to give him that bit of rough. </p>
<p>Ed rolled them quickly and jerked Bud’s thickly muscled legs up over his shoulders. He was stronger than he looked, and soon he set a vicious rolling rhythm that kept Bud begging, made him whimper and squeal and gasp that he was Ed’s would do anything, anything, <i>anything</i>. Ed growled low and vicious, taking Bud’s throat between his even white teeth. </p>
<p>He didn’t bite hard enough to break skin, but Bud came, howling, reaching down to spread his hole as wide as he could so Ed could fuck as deep into him as possible before filling him with hot come. Ed kept fucking as long as he could, forcing himself to vary the pace so he would last. Finally, his control shattered, and he was on all fours over Bud pounding as hard as he could. Bud whimpered and mewled, clenching to try and get Ed off, and finally Ed growled and sealed his mouth on Bud’s neck one more time, unloading deep inside his partner.</p>
<p>“Mine,” Ed growled when he could force his jaw to part, his mouth to release Bud’s bared neck. There was no way that bite wouldn’t bruise, no way it wouldn’t be obvious that Bud had been attacked by another man. Ed swallowed thickly, rolling them again so he lay on his back, Bud impaled on him. He urged Bud down, and Bud moaned softly, curling close to rest his head on Ed’s chest and nuzzle against his nipples, then sigh and fall asleep just like that, wide open, impaled, and oozing come from his hole.</p>
<p>Ed woke in the morning to Bud’s mouth on his dick, just as sloppy and enthusiastic as the night before. He reached down, scraped his nails through Bud’s lengthening hair. Bud mewled sweetly and humped the mattress, and sucked Ed until Ed forced himself in to the root and came down Bud’s throat. Ed pushed Bud away as he gagged, the last few spurts of his orgasm splattering on Bud’s scarred face. </p>
<p>“So sweet Bud,” Ed murmured, sweeping his thumb through the spunk on Bud’s face. Bud gave that little smile and trapped Ed’s thumb gently between his lips, sucking, then nipping gently. “My partner,” Ed continued, sweeping his hand up over Bud’s hair, and Bud closed his eyes and pressed as tight as he could, mouth moving wetly along Ed’s collar bone.</p>
<p>“Yours,” Bud gasped. </p>
<p>Lynn bustled in shortly with coffee and toast, smiling fondly at her men. She kissed Ed on the cheek and Bud on the mouth, and Bud kissed her as readily as he'd kissed Ed, savoring the sweetness of her mouth after so long without. Pulling back, Bud looked up at her searchingly, then smiled at the fond expression on her face. </p>
<p>"Go on then, eat up, then get to work," Lynn said, and went to get ready for the day.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i'm on tumblr, pillowfort, and dreamwidth as wrennette too, feel free to come say hi!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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